I'm a slayer, ask me how.

YES - FINALLY - I know you have been on the edge of your frakkin SEAT waiting for this post! Now you can read about my super fabulous awesome weekend at Dragon*Con!!!

In bullet point format to keep it from being too TL;DR.

-- I found the billboards on 75 to be the perfect representation of the evolution of a relationship. There are signs for kinky "adult" stores and then two miles down, there is a whole "bring the kids to the peach farm" signs, and also a nice selection of antique store signs. That about covers it haha.

-- Made it to Atlanta safe and sound, gave the car to the valet. While unloading my axe, they accidentally snapped it in two. I almost cried, but faeriesfolly packed duct tape and saved the day...and the valet had an accident in the garage and busted maybedeadcat's taillight!!!!! ARGH!!!! Luckily, we didn't get the message until later that day so it didn't ruin our Thursday night. Just our Friday morning.

-- Went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner on Thursday. When I went with faeriesfolly back in 2009, this is where we ate and we found out about the collectible pins. I bought a set and we split them so she has one dragon and I have the other. I wanted to do something similar, but this year I was not just attending with her, but also with maybedeadcat. But, as luck would have it, since it was the 25th Anniversary of D*C, they had a special 3-pin boxed set!!! Totally a sign. I bought it and gave two of the pins to my friends -- the set is only complete when we are together!

-- Texting jellibean as we wandered the floor in the Marriott and being told that she was "near the Dalek" -- I knew I was at Dragon*Con when that text was totally logical.

-- Also, it was SO FRAKKIN AWESOME TO STAY IN THE MARRIOTT!! THANK YOU jellibean!!!!!!

-- Friday, made a b-line for the Her Universe booth and snagged the Cylon necklace and Yoda t-shirt.

-- Went to the first Buffy panel which included Eliza Dushku, Nicholas Brendan, Mercedes McNab, Felicia Day, Julie Benz, and Clare Kramer. It was a little awkward, they really needed a moderator. Felicia did a good job of trying to keep it moving. Eliza is clearly a sweetheart. Julie Benz and Clare Kramer are adorable and I would be happy just to listen to the two of them babble all day about whatever. Mercedes seemed really shy, Nicholas seemed sort of disinterested. Still, it was fun.

-- Went back to the hotel room later that day and faeriesfolly began the process of turning me into FRAY. Phase one, spray painting my hair BLACK. We made quite a mess. maybedeadcat documented it for me.

-- Took FRAY to the streets for the Buffy sing-along. Actually had one person identify my character which made me happy. :)

-- Buffy Sing-a-Long was a lot of fun, but I always like singing those songs with a whole crowd of fans. Doctor Horrible was better though, the stage show was tighter and the actors seemed to be more confident. Hilarious thing was the lady sitting next to me. She started chatting with me as they set up the Doctor Horrible show. She was babbling about meeting someone in line and then was like "I'm commemorating this show with some Firefly tea! Do you know what that is?" And I was all innocent and was like "what is it?" and she revealed she was sipping some sort of alcoholic beverage while we were sitting there LOL! Just cracked me up! She did compliment my singing though...so she must have been pretty tipsy ;-)

-- Wandered back to the hotel, going up the escalator we reach the top and I see King Arthur come galloping by, and hearing the faint sound of coconuts being banged together I watched in pure geek joy as he rode by along with Sir Galahad, Patsy, some ladies from Castle Anthrax, and a monk carrying the holy hand grenade.

( okay so maybe it's a little tl:dr...still...you know you want to look! )

So I've convinced andy_wolverton that he has to come with me to Dragon*Con next year so we were brainstorming costume ideas because that is half the fun (plus, I figure if I start planning now I might see some random stuff between now and then and make some costumes). Anyway, here are some outfits I'd like to have for next year:

Wichita from Zombieland (andy_wolverton said he'll try to get a Talahassee outfit together, faeriesfolly you could be Little Rock...or just a zombie LOL!)

River Song from not sure which episode yet. Sort of tempted to pick "Silence in the Library so I have an excuse to buy her Sonic Screwdriver but something tells me I could probably find the camo-suit she wore in 'Flesh & Stone' pretty easily (andy_wolverton said he would be The Doctor and faeriesfolly can perfect her Amy outfit)

Jesse from Toy Story - I don't think this would be too hard to pull off, she's just a cowgirl. Maybe make a wig from some red yarn...

Starbuck - because the outfit is pretty much there already

I'd love to do a Splicer or Little Sister outfit. Seems like they would just require getting a dress from a pawn shop and messing it up a bit. Then making a mask. Maybe there will be more screenshots from BioShock Infinite and I can make someone from that game...

So many ideas!!!! Wish I knew how to sew (or had the patience/attention span to sew). Maybe I could get a really simple pattern and set up the machine in front of the TV...keep my brain occupied.

Did some work on my True Blood outfit today - by day we can be Merlotte's waitresses, and by night we'll be the vampires that chug Tru Blood at the bar.

Now I understand why all the vamps hang around with their mouths open, it's very awkward.

I just need to practice saying "Hello, this is the library information desk, how can I help you" with less of a lisp and I'll be ready for Halloween!

Click through for more photos of me being silly! (and OMG I applied make-up - I think that took longer than the fangs)

Hm...where can I put my teeth so that the kitties don't find them...

I bought a pair of yoga pants from Victoria's Secret because they were on clearance and Amy told me they were uber-comfortable, so my "Dollhouse" costume is halfway there!

BUT the True Blood "Merlotte's Bar" t-shirt is GONE!!!!!!!! :(

Part of me really wants to get a Star Trek female officer uniform, ala Uhura. Though I think I like the classic style rather than the new J.J. Abrams version. Unfortunately, it looks like I would have to learn how to sew. And the one site that every single place I Google tells me to buy the pattern from is sold out!

I was hoping I could find a "good enough" pattern, you know a McCall's "Space Adventure" thing, that's not quite Star Trek but just close enough for a n00b like me to handle sewing. But alas, I cannot find anything but this one store! It says "back ordered" gives no hint about when they might arrive. (and all the pre-made ones I found were just...yeah, no...plus they only go up to "medium" which means my "not medium" self will have issues).

hm hm hm....

So, the Harry Potter program last night was a success! Everyone got into it! heiland_coo and I went all out with our costumes, some brought graduation robes and ties, others just got a swatch of colored hairspray in their hair. Either way, we had fun and the kids were amused!

We had two volunteers outside with the Sorting hat (that I borrowed from Crofton). They kids reached into the hat and pulled out a house name, which was then shouted and cheered by my two volunteers. They got a house badge and went inside the library.

Inside the meeting room, we had lots of different crafts - you could get your face painted, make a snitch, make a broom out of a pencil, decorate Quidditch goggles, build your Hogwarts satchel, make an Owl out of a paper plate and then build a Howler for him to deliver. We had an Herbology lesson in the back with mandrakes and a Defense Against the Dark Arts Pop Quiz matching game on the chalk board.

Out in the branch, we had a scavenger hunt and a 30 question trivia challenge.

Everything went so very very well! Lots of adorable moments (the kids doing the scavenger hunt made my day when I saw them clumped together, reading the clues out loud and then scuttering off to the next clue).

heiland_coo's husband was there with his camera and I know he took more pictures and I'm hoping she will share them with me! It was such a good time and I'm hoping we can do another Harry Potter themed program next year!

Click on the picture to see a few more shots of my pink hair, the library, and the kids.

Okay, so I've decided that I really want to dress up as Melaka Fray for Comic Con next year (and possibly Halloween...though no one would know who I was...okay back to Comic Con).

Anyway, the basics of the outfit seems pretty easy to find - cargo pants, tank top, paint on a tattoo and her scar. Build myself a raygun and a slayer scythe...

But her hair. It's 2 different colors - either black/dark blue and a purple/ pink at the end.

So...I don't think it's wise for me to actually dye my hair that many colors. (Probably an expensive dye job too.) So, do any of my costume making buddies have any suggestions for what to do about all that? Suggestions? I am such a n00b at this. But I really want to have a cool costume!

(I googled "Fray" to see if anyone had done it before and I didn't get a million pictures so I might even be sorta unique, which makes me want to do it even more!)